Newborn and premature babies are often wrapped in a blanket or the covering in order to swaddle the infant and keep the infant warm while sleeping. Babies are also wrapped or swaddled to provide a feeling of comfort, much like the closeness felt in the womb.
Premature babies are often put on a mattress in an incubator which has the upper end elevated to hold the baby in a position where the baby's head is higher than the rest of the body. Unless otherwise restrained, the newborn babies roll down the incline or eventually wind up at the bottom due to squirming and the like, defeating the purpose of inclining the mattress to hold up the head.
There are several types of blanket devices which are secured to a mattress in order to attach a sheet or blanket of a crib mattress and/or bumper pad to limit movement of the infant while sleeping. Some infants frequently change positions while sleeping so it is desirable to secure the baby in a secure sleeping position. Moreover, the risk of infant death due to Sudden infant Death Syndrome, “SIDS”, is thought to be reduced by placing babies on their backs to sleep.
Parents of infants are always concerned with the safety of their child, especially when the child is not in the parents' reach, such as when the child is in someone else's care or when the child is in bed at night and the parents are in the next room. SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome is still a mystery but claims the lives of 2500 babies in the United States between one month and one year old. SIDS remains unpredictable despite years of research. Even so, the risk of SIDS can be greatly reduced. Experts have stated that infants younger than 1 year old should be placed on their backs to sleep—never face-down on their stomachs or on their sides.
Gastro-Esophageal Reflux is a condition wherein stomach contents come back up and out of the esophagus and cause burning and choking of the person. This condition is also improved by sleeping on one's back in an inclined position. In the case of an infant with this condition, some sort of restraint is needed to hold or swaddle the child in such an inclined position to help prevent stomach contents from working their way up the esophagus. Incorporating a harness assembly provides a means of preventing the infant from sliding downward on an inclined mattress.
Moreover, it is recommended to remove soft bedding from the baby's sleep area, keeping the baby's head and face uncovered during sleep and keeping blankets and other coverings away from a baby's mouth and nose by tucking the blanket in around the bottom of the crib mattress. However, merely tucking bedding around a crib mattress is not always sufficient to secure the bedding in view of the movement of active babies that kick and move around in bed.
Several devices have been utilized to secure a blanket to the mattress and hold the infant in a selected position upon the mattress.